//------------------------------// // Turn 32: The Potential Of Humans // Story: Yugioh EQG: XX // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Celestia: You're joining us as we've reached the end of day one of the tournament, and things are heating up. Luna: Each member of Tidal Maidens has been defeated by a member of team Dominator, which means team Tidal Maidens has been eliminated. Celestia: However, remember team Wonderbolts? They cleared the first stage in fifteenth place, but now they're steadily earning more and more points. Still on the second level, Soarin stepped out into a field that was filled with the bones of multiple Duel Monsters. He sighed, not sure if he agreed with Rainbow's strategy to face opponents they couldn't easily beat. 'Getting through so late in the game seriously rattled her. And with the school's reputation on the line, she must be scared of letting them down.' In that moment, his Raduel beeped and when he switched it on he saw there was someone else in the boneyard. "Team Dominator," he gasped seeing Heath Burn's face on it. Apart of him wanted to go face the teen, but he didn't want to go against Rainbow's orders. "Dang it," he moaned. "What do I do?" Meanwhile, in a corridor between fields, Flash was walking through it after winning his last match in the Orchard Field. "Hey," he looked up to see Sunburst heading towards him, "over here." He finally reached him, "day one's gonna be ending soon." "Yeah," Flash agreed. "Knowing we came out of round one in last place, we have to be aggressive." He punched his hand into his palm, "targeting players who have a large number of points." Sunburst nodded, "if we wanna stay in the tournament. That's exactly what we've got to do." Flash smirked, "did you see Spike. He really came through for us in the first round." "Yeah," Sunburst agreed, "but I'm a bit worried. He was saying some weird things, like actually being on another world." But as he said that, he noticed Flash seemed a little uneasy. "What is it? Does that actually make sense to you?" Flash frowned, remembering back to what Sombra had said to him. 'Would it make a difference if I told Sunburst and Spike about team Dominator? Probably not but-.' He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice Sunburst getting behind him and pushing him forwards. "Wow!" He cried as he worked to regain his balance, then turned towards Sunburst. "Hey!" Sunburst just smirked. "We don't have time to worry about this kind of stuff. We need to focus, okay?" "Huh?" Flash replied before shaking his head. "Yeah, you're right." He sighed, "absolutely right." Sunburst nodded before turning, "well we'd better get going." With that, he began to run down the corridor towards the next battle field. Flash watched him run off, smirking at his drive. "I can't let him and Spike down." He began to rush into the next Duel Field, ready to face the first opponent he came across. Back in the boneyard, Heath continued to make his way through the piles of deceased monsters. 'These humans are such a waste of time,' he moaned. 'I don't know why we have to Duel them.' His memory suddenly flashed back to his Duel with Twilight, making him frown as he remembered how close it was. 'Stupid humans!' He tried to turn the volume up on his headphones, only for them to make a static noise before completely dying. "Not again!" He moaned as he took them off. "I challenge you!" A voice cried out from behind him, "team Dominator!" Heath's Raduel beeped, showing the Duel had begun. "Once challenged, the competitors have to Duel." He sighed, "stupid rule." He threw his headphones away before spinning around and seeing who it was, going wide-eyed at the sight. "Flash Sentry." Flash was staring at his opponent, a serious look on his face. "It's payback time for Twilight." "Twilight?" Heath asked, only to realise what he was getting at. "Oh, that's right. She's your girlfriend." Flash frowned at this, "whatever. Deciding to Duel me just for revenge, you'll find out that was a pretty big mistake." He took out his Duel Disk and placed it on his arm, Flash doing the same. As they prepared to face off, Heath remembered back a conversation with Tempest. Several weeks ago. "So this guys the Pendulum Singularity," Heath asked while sitting outside with Tempest. A picture of all the participants in the Double X lay on the table between them. "He doesn't look like much." Tempest picked up the picture of Flash. "This boy is a human who was born in our world. Because of that, he has abilities that transcend the barrier between them." "He's the one that made it possible to come over here," Heath said. "He was the conduit, yes." "So...you want me to check out how good he is if I come across him?" Tempest nodded. "Fine, whatever you want as long as the pay's good." He pulled out his deck, smirking. "What do you hope to find out by playing silly games like this?" "Potential." Heath turned to Tempest in confusion. "Come again?" "It was something Moondancer mentioned. That human beings have extreme potential to do extraordinary things. I was curious what she meant, so I hope to find out for myself." However, all this did was make Heath laugh. After a few seconds, he stopped laughing and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Humour me here. Assuming this extreme potential exists-" Present. "Then I'll burn it to a crisp," he said as his and Flash's Duel Disks activated "DUEL!" Flash 4000 Heath: 4000 As Sunburst was making his way through the Orchard Field, his Raduel beeped. Looking down, he saw who Flash was Duelling against and frowned. "So he's facing her teammate." He stared at Flash's face, "you can do this." Up in the VIP box, Twilight frowned seeing her boyfriend was going up against the Duellist that eliminated her. "Flash's next opponent. Heath Burns." Her memory flashed back to when she Duelled him and the vision she saw back then. The same thing that had happened when she Duelled against Tempest. "There's something strange about team Dominator." And Moondancer, but she wasn't gonna say that out loud. "I'm worried," Scootaloo said, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Misty smiling at her. "Don't worry. Your brother's not going down so easily." This made Scootaloo smile before turning back to the field, beginning to cheer her brother on. "I'm up first!" Heath drew his card, "and I summon Flame Ruler in DEF mode!" A burst of fire revealed the fire controlling man. (A1500/D1600/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn." "My turn!" Flash drew his card. "And I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Magna Caster Lunara and scale eight Magna Caster Solaris!" The portals of light appeared on either side of him, as the two magicians flew up into them. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal began to form above his head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and taking shape. "Target sighted, Magna Fighter Gun Runner!" (A1600/D1400/L4) "Shred'em up, Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9) "I activate my Trap!" Heath announced as his face down flipped up, "Flaming Soldier of Hellfire!" A fireball shot out of the card and took the form of the robotic monster, which took a defensive stance alongside Flame Ruler. (A1600/D1100/L4) Celestia: Heath Burns, whose strategy is highly reliant on Trap, verses Flash Sentry the Pendulum Duellist. Whose's strategy will win out in the end? "Magna Chimp!" Flash pointed at Flame Ruler, "attack!" The robotic monkey rushed forward. "I activate my Trap!" Heath cried, only for his Duel Disk to tell him he couldn't. "What?" "Sorry," Flash told him, "but with Solaris on the field you can't activate any Traps during the turn a Pendulum Monster attacks." This made Heath growl before he began running through the boneyard. He spotted an Action Card in the eye hole of a Mammoth Graveyard, which he quickly reached inside to grab. But when he pulled back, he saw that the card he'd gotten was a Trap. Luna: Oh, Buried Alive. That card forces him to discard the top card of his deck until he discards a monster. Heath frowned but did so, needing to discard one Spell and Trap before he got a monster. Meanwhile, Magna Chimp slashed at Flame Ruler and destroyed it. "Now Gun Runner!" The Magna Fighter pointed his blaster at Hellfire Soldier and fired, vaporising it. "And since he destroyed a monster, I can banish Gun Runner to summon a monster that's the same level." Gun Runner fired again, creating a portal that he leapt into with Magna Wolf jumping out the other side. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Attack!" The wolf charged forwards, it's ATK points raising. (A1600/D1200/L4) It slashed at Heath, making him stagger backwards. "Augh!" Flash 4000 Heath: 2400 Flash sighed. Now wasn't the time to worry about what team Dominator was up to. Spike and Sunburst were both battling their way through the Double X the best they can, just like him. "I place one card face down and end my turn." Magna Wolf's ATK returned to normal. There were still Duellists he wanted to go up against here. "I'm going to the final round," he told Heath. "And not just me, but Spike and Sunburst too. We're getting there and we're gonna win this whole championship!" This statement caused Heath to raise an eyebrow. "You think you can win? That's a very ambitious goal. Is it really that important to you?" "Yes it's important," Flash replied. "It's the most important thing right now." Celestia: Flash Sentry takes an early lead. Will he be able to keep that lead against Heath, or will we see a come back from the young hothead. "Darn it!" Sunburst's opponent cried as his life points were wiped out. "I can't believe I lost." Sunset didn't stick around long enough to chat, instead rushing through the field as he spotted a stairway leading upwards. "If I hurry, I might be able to get one Duel in before the end of the day." But as he looked at his Raduel, he saw who was actually on the field the stairway lead to and it made him stop. "Starlight." The image of his childhood friend made him begin to panic. He stared at the entrance to the stairway, as he felt his heartbeat increase rapidly. Eventually, he shock his head and pushed his glasses up his face. "You can do it. No more running." He braced himself, "here we go." He let out a might cry and he rushed towards the stairway, towards his friend. "My draw!" Heath did so, staring at Flash while doing so. 'Really, I'm suppose to be worried about this guy? I was thinking this guy was gonna be special, given all the attention she's been giving him. But now-' "Give me a break," he said. "Why was I so concerned." He looked at the card he'd drawn and smiled. "First I play Eruption Reload, to banish Solar Flare Dragon from my graveyard and draw four cards. He did so, liking what he'd got. "I then place two cards face down before activating the magic of, Heavy Storm!" A massive gust of wind blew throughout the field. Luna: Grab your rain coat and goloshes, it looks like a storms blowing in. Flash watched as Solaris, Lunara and his face down were sucked up, along with Heath's own face downs. "Why would he place those cards face down before playing that?" He asked, only to quickly realise that, "you wanted them destroyed." "That's right," Heath replied before a dark haze began to fill the boneyard. Seconds later, a pair of golden slugs appeared on field. "Meet my terrifying Wicked Tokens, which appear whenever Statue of the Wicked is destroyed. Now," the two monsters burst into flames, "I sacrifice my Wicked Tokens in order to summon Flaming Emperor, Hellfire!" The flames spiralled around each other before exploding to reveal the armoured demon. (A2600/D2200/L7) Flash looked up at that monster, then down at Heath. As he did, he noticed a strange flaming aura wrap around Heath. That aura then slowly took the form of tall winged human. Flash felt he knew what it was and, remembering what Sombra had told him, focused on the figure. Doing so allowed him to see passed the flames and see the creature they hid, Hellfire. "So, this is your true form." "Next I banish one Trap in my graveyard to Special Summon Meteor Humanoid!" In an explosion of flames, a humanoid monster made out of red molten rock appeared. His body had several cracks which revealed a lava like substance beneath the rock, which flames erupted from its neck and covered most of its head. (A1600/D1300/L4) "Then I activate Hellfire's ability!" His monsters claws ignited before sending a wave of fire towards Magna Chimp, "your monster will now lose one hundred ATK points for every Trap in my graveyard." The fire hit the robot and burnt it, causing Magna Chimp to flinch. (A1500/D600/L4/P9) "What a silly creature," he told him before pointing at Magna Chimp. "Attack!" Flash watched Hellfire fly towards Magna Chimp, as he and his monsters rushed forwards to try and find an Action Card. However, no card came within sight before the demon's blazing claws struck the robot and destroyed it. Flash 2900 Heath: 2400 "Now, Meteor Humanoid will attack Magna Wolf." The walking lava pool brought it hands together and created a blazing rock, which struck Magna Wolf and destroyed it. Flash 2800 Heath: 2400 Celestia: Heath Burns manages to close the gap between him and his opponent. Luna: Will Flash Sentry be able to keep his lead over him? "I'll end my turn by throwing down a face down," Heath announced before his Raduel beeped. Looking over the screen, he smiled. "Well well. It looks like your teammate is about to go up against mine." "Huh?" Flash looked down at his Raduel and saw he was right. "Starlight Glimmer." "My condolences," Heath said. "It seems your team's out of the tournament, since you won't be able to beat us." As soon as he said that, the Raduel beeped again to show that there was only thirty minutes left of the day. "Good for you. Now you won't have to waste your time tomorrow." This made Flash growl as he drew his card, "it's not over yet. Not by a long shot. The Double X can still be ours!" "Sunburst," Spike began to feel nervous as he remembered his Duel with Starlight. "It was bad enough when our team had to go up against team Dominator," Fluttershy frowned. "And ours," Applejack agreed. "Maybe Flash and Sunburst can pull it off?" Sweetie said. "Maybe," Rarity told her sister. "But against the power those three posses, it won't be easy." "Flash," Twilight whispered in worry. "Be careful." "I play Stardust Reload, to banish Magna Wolf and draw four cards. I then set scale two Magna Boar and scale nine Magna Sheep into the Pendulum Zones!" The pillars of light appeared besides him, as the monsters flew up into them. Heath smiled at this, turning to Flash. "That girlfriend of yours," he mentioned. "She said something odd during my Duel with her earlier. She said some other girl was helping her to give her strength. Well it still didn't make any difference. I still beat her." He sighed. "What's with you people? You're so serious. It's not like your life depends on it." He let out a laugh, "that's just stupid if you ask me." This made Flash frown, "you don't know what you're talking about." "Actually, I do. It's ridicules. What I don't understand, is why you waste your time and energy on such a silly childish game." "It is not a silly game!" Flash almost yelled. He remembered back to how excited Spike was when he asked him to be on his team, and how determined Sunburst had become. All of his friends and their reasons for entering. "Spike and Sunburst. Twilight, Rainbow and everyone else. They're all...they've all got so much at stake, taking part in the Double X." "How sweet," Heath told him before sneering. "But you think I care. That's one of the reasons I find it so silly." He shook his head. "Honestly, you humans really are such dull creatures." "Better then being some body snatcher," Flash glared back. "Why don't you and your team do everyone a favour and let your hosts go. Just go back to your own world, Hellfire Emperor." This caught Heath's attention, making him frown. "So, you know about me huh? Guess you're one of those annoying little pests who've been spying on us." He smirked, "you're such idiots. Thinking you can compete against us. Not a chance." "It doesn't matter," Flash told him. "I don't care whether you're Soulinked or not, I'm gonna win." The portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before three lights shot out and hit the ground, revealing Flash's monsters. "Shred'em up, Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" (A1800/D600/L4/P9) "Invoke your moonlight magic, Magna Caster Lunara." (A2400/D1200/L6/P1) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Flash Heart's skill!" A portal opened up behind Meteor Humanoid, "be banished to the depths of space time!" The portal sucked the beast in, leaving Hellfire out on its own. "Now Flash Heart, attack Hellfire!" The dragon's jets exploded, propelling it across the field. "Magna Boar's Pendulum Ability now increases the ATK of all Pendulum monster on the field. (A3000/D2000/L7/P1) (A2900/D1200/L6/P1) (A2300/D600/L4/P9) Celestia: Flash is utilising the power of his Pendulum Deck excellently. If this works, victory will be his. But as Flash Heart got closer to Hellfire, Heath just smirked. "Activate Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Dimensional Prison!" A portal opened up infront of Hellfire and unleashing a powerful sucking force, which caught Flash Heart and began to pull it in. "No!" Flash cried as his best card was banished. Luna: Incredible. Flash Sentry's ace monster is gone. How will this effect the rest of the Duel? Heath let out a laugh, "now what'll you do. Without your best card, what hope do you have." Flash growled. "There's more to my deck then Flash Heart. Lunara!" The moon magician pointed her staff at Hellfire, while Heath leapt over to the skeleton of a Red-Eyes. There, in its claws, was an Action Card. He grabbed it, "I play Evasion!" As Lunara fired a blast of ice at Hellfire, the demon leapt out of the way. Flash sighed, "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Lunara and Magna Chimp's ATK points returned to normal. "My draw!" Heath did so, smiling when he saw what he'd gotten. "With this, my victory is assured!" His face down flipped up, "I activate the Trap card Call of the Haunted, to revive Flame Ruler!" The flaming spellcaster appeared besides Hellfire. "And here's the thing, Flame Ruler can count as two tributes when summoning a Fire monster. He raised his card into the air, "so now I sacrifice both him and Hellfire in order to summon my most powerful beast!" He slapped the card on the Duel Disk, as a pillar of fire exploded behind him. Flash flinched as he was forced to step back, the heat coming off the pillar so intense it was making the bones around them melt. The flames finally began to fade, revealing the monster that beat Twilight. "Searing Flame Dragon, Afterburner!" (A?/D?/L9) Twilight gasped. "That's the card that beat me." The rest of the box began to worry hearing this. "Be careful Flash," Misty warned her son. Heath held up his Duel Disk. "Here's the thing. Afterburner's original ATK becomes the total number of Traps in my graveyard times eight hundred. And right now, I have five." Afterburner roared as It's ATK power rose (A4000/D4000/L9) Celestia: Heath brings out his best card and has set the stage to make it a powerful beast. Luna: And with Afterburner's ability to send Traps to the graveyard, it's only gonna get more powerful. "Afterburner's skill," He drew five cards before taking out two and placing them in the graveyard. With two more Traps in the grave, Afterburner's power increased. (A5600/D5600/L9) Heath then pointed at Magna Chimp, "melt that piece of junk and end this Duel!" The dragon opened its mouth and prepared to unleash the flames. "I activate my Trap!" Flash announced as his card flipped up. "Traps won't work on my monster," Heath told him. "But they will work on mine," Flash announced as he began to run. "The card I played was Interception, which lets Lunara take the hit for Magna Chimp." But hopefully, he could find an Action Card that could save him. As Afterburner unleashed a blast of fire, Flash spotted an Action Card inside a Dark Tyrano skeleton's mouth. He reached and grabbed it, finding it was an Action Spell but not one he could use. "Dang," he spun around, "I activate my other Trap." His face down flipped up, "Brittle Shield!" Lunara quickly shifted into a DEF position, just as the flames hit her. Heath smirked, "you're only delaying the inevitable. I place one card face down and end my turn." Celestia: Incredible. Flash managed to survive against such a powerful monster. Luna: Now he has a chance to take it down. But with it's ATK points set at fifty six hundred, does he have a card in his deck that can do it. "Let's find out!" Flash drew his card, only to see it was a Trap. But with Afterburner's ability, it was useless. He only had one hope, and that was the Action card he drew before. "I activate the Action Spell Dark Burial. I ditch one card, then draw one card for every two cards of the same card type as the one I discard in your graveyard. Since I ditched a Trap, and you have seven Traps in your grave, I draw three cards." He did so, nodding when he saw what he'd gotten. "I summon Space-Warp Dragon!" The mechanical wyvern appeared on his field. "Then I activate the Spell card Reverse Polarity." Heath looked up and saw his monster suddenly power down, as it's power swapped with Space-Warp Dragon's. (A800/D5600/L9) (A5600/D1200/L3) Celestia: Unbelievable! Flash has managed to use Heath's overwhelming power against him. Luna: And with Space-Warp's ability, it can attack Heath directly and wipe out his life points. "Attack!" A portal opened up infront of his dragon, with another one appearing infront of Heath, that Space-Warp flew into. It then flew out the other one, ready to end this Duel. "I don't think so," Heath told him. "Activate Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Mirror Force!" Flash's eyes went wide seeing this, with Space-Warp hitting an invisible barrier that caused it to explode. A light then flew off the barrier and hit Magna Chimp, destroying it as well. "No," Flash moaned. "Fine," the portal opened up above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The lights flew out of the portal and hit the ground, Lunara and Magna Chimp appearing out of them in DEF mode. "I place one card face down and end my turn. Afterburner's ATK returned to normal. And with another Trap in the graveyard, they were even higher then before. (A6400/D6400/L9) "It's my turn," Heath didn't draw a card. "Afterburner's ability. Instead of drawing, I can take a Trap in my grave and add it to my hand." He did so, then discarded another card. "Now I'm using Hellfire's ability to bring him back to the field." A burst of fire signalled the demon's arrival. (A2600/D2200/L7) "Then I'll use Afterburner's other ability." He drew five cards and discarded three, increasing the dragon's power. "Attack!" But Hellfire and Afterburner attacked, destroying Flash's monsters. (A8800/D8800/L9) "I place one card face down end my turn." 'This is bad,' Flash realised. 'That things getting stronger and stronger with each turn and I might not have a way to stop it.' He drew his card, but it wouldn't allow him to beat Afterburner. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and Lunara and Magna Chimp appeared in defence mode again. "I end my turn." Flash began running, hoping to find an Action that could save him. "I draw!" Heath did so, smiling at what he got. "I play Pot of Greed, to draw two new cards." He did so, "then I play the Spell card Stop Defence!" Flash's eyes went wide hearing this, as he turned to see Magna Chimp stand up. In that moment, he spotted an Action Card in the hand of a Summon Skull. He leapt over to it and grabbed the card, only to see it was a Trap. Luna: Bone Shower. That Action Trap destroys one random monster on Flash's field and deals him three hundred points of damage for every level point it has. Flash turned back to his monsters, as a barrage of bones flew towards him. Unfortunately, Lunara was the one destroyed as the bones then flew at him. "GAH" He cried as they slammed into him. Flash 1000 Heath: 2400 "Afterburner!" Heath cried, "end this!" The dragon opened its mouth and shot out a burst for fire, straight at Magna Chimp. "It's...over!" As soon as he said this, his and Flash's eyes met. When that happened, the aura around his body exploded and flew towards him. Flash cried out as everything around him went black, causing him to close his eyes for a second. But when he opened them again, he found he was somewhere else. He was in the same canyon field Twilight had been in, surrounded by the bodies of fallen monsters. "What is this?" This wasn't like with Tempest. Was this what Spike had been talking about? "This is what a real battlefield looks like," Flash turned to see Hellfire walking towards him. "Live or die, that's all that matter's here. Unlike the worthless, child's play that you lot like to amuse yourself with." "Shut up!" Flash cried, "you don't know anything about our Duels." He placed a hand over his heart, "my life only truly began when I started playing. It's brought me friends, family and so much more." He pointed at Hellfire, "and not just in my world!" In that moment, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the night's sky. "What?" Hellfire asked as the light died down, revealing all of Flash's monsters. They all gathered around him, supportive and ready to face whatever obstacles Flash needed their help with. "What's all this?" Flash smirked. "The bond that unites us, even across dimensions." In that moment, a new light caught Hellfire's eyes and made him turn to see the sun begin to rise. "Even the bonds that exist after life ends." Hellfire shook, as memories of the bodies that surrounded them falling flew through his mind. "No," he growled, "you lie! Death is the end, and soon death will overtake you. So shut up and Die already!" "No thanks," Flash told him. "I don't intend to die any time soon." "And what's gonna stop that from happening?" Hellfire asked. This made Flash smirk before his face when serious. "TRAP SUMMON!" A burst of light blinded Heath, causing him the shield his eyes. When the light finally faded, he found he was back in the boneyard. He then saw the cause of that light, which was a familiar young woman in steampunk attire carrying a large golden shield with a crystal in the centre. "Magna Guardian, Arma Excess!" (A100/D2000/L4) "A Trap Monster!" Heath frowned. "Excess's skill," Flash explained. "As long as she's on the field, she's the only card you can attack." Arma raised her shield, as the crystal unleashed a bright light that formed a barrier around her and Magna Chimp that blocked the flames. "She also has another ability. When she's attacked, every card except her and the one that's attacking is banished from the field and the attacking monster loses five hundred ATK points for each other." Heath frowned, "I don't think so." He discarded one card, "I activate Ambush Blazer's ability. By discarding him, I can activate the effect of a Trap in my graveyard. So now I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" Hellfire disappeared, "he might be gone but he'll be back next turn and your monster's effect won't have the same strength." Magna Chimp disappeared through a power as well, causing Afterburner's ATK to drop. (A8300/D8800/L9) It might not have been much in the grand scheme of things, but with Arma in DEF mode Flash was still safe as she was destroyed. Celestia: He survived the attack! Luna: Flash Sentry, despite the odds, has survived to another turn. "DARN IT!" Heath cried as he was forced to end his turn. 'Hold on, what am I worried about?' He looked down at his field, Afterburner's ATK returning to normal, as Hellfire returned to him. He then saw his face down, 'I still have my Mirror Force. Even if he pulls some crazy power up, it'll do him no good.' He smirked, 'this Duel is mine.' Flash saw that smirk and knew Heath believed he was invincible right now. 'I'm gonna need something big to win this.' He reached for his deck and drew his card, gasping when he saw what he'd got. With this...maybe. He turned to Heath, who had jumped up onto the skull of a Blue-Eyes. "You called Duelling a silly game. A waste of time. Childish!" Heath raised an eyebrow at this. "But you can't deny that the feelings it produces are real!" The portal began to form above his head. "The greater the opponent, the stronger the desire to fight, as a team. Making use of my skills, silly or not!" Heath just rolled his eyes at this. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened up and a single light shot out of it and hit the ground, transforming into Flash's monster. "Invoke your moonlight magic, Magna Caster Lunara." (A2400/D1200/L6/P1) "That card can't save you!" "Well what if I play this!" He slapped a card on the field, as a small clockwork rat appeared besides Lunara. "Aura Pulse, Magna Rat!" (A300/D200/L1) Heath burst out laughing. "Seriously, that little pipsqueak is gonna save you." "He will," Flash replied. "Because now I can banish him and summon one monster that's been removed from play!" This made Heath stop laughing, as a giant portal opened up above their heads. Magna Rat leapt up into it, as a familiar robotic dragon flew out the other side. "Shine your light of victory one last time, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Skill activated!" A portal opened up and sucked Hellfire inside. Heath growled, "that won't be enough to save you." "We'll see," Flash said. "Cause I'm activating the Pendulum Ability of my Nightlight Magna Sheep!" The light-bulbs on Magna Sheep's armour glowed before unleash a blast of light, which struck the sky above them and created a vortex. Seconds later, Flash Heart and Lunara were sucked inside. "Now watch as I fuse the unequalled might of a dragon, with the mystic proprieties of a Spellcaster!" The vortex exploded and released a burst of bright light. "I FUSION SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing Flash's new Fusion Monster for the whole world to see. It was Spectral Nova Dragon, only now it was wearing a new suit of armour. Only its head and tail were now visible, while the rest was sealed within robotic armour that was either bronze, black or green. The armour was covered in vents and on the end of its arms were a pair of cannon like weapons that were modelled after jet engines. On its back were a pair of mechanical wings designed similar to Flash Heart's, but were more rounded and appeared to be staked on atop the other. "SPECTRAL FREEZER DRAGON!" (A3000/D2000/L8) As the giant dragon towered over him, Heath couldn't help but stagger back a bit. "Spectral Freeze's skill! Since the Spellcaster used to summon him was Level six, he gains six hundred ATK points for this turn." (A3600/D2000/L8) Flash reached for his deck, "now for his other skill. Banish the top three cards of the deck. For the rest of the turn, the effects of all my opponent's cards that are the same as the banished cards are negated." "What?" Heath asked in shock. "Wait," Scootaloo said, "so if Flash gets a Trap card." "Then all of Heath's Traps will be made useless," Twilight finished for her. "And if he gets a monster card, then Afterburner's effects will be negated." "If that happens," Fluttershy realised. "Then Flash'll win," Shining said. Everyone smiled hearing this, seeing the light at the end of a very dim tunnel. "GO FLASH!" Spike yelled. "Okay," Flash said, "here goes." He drew his first card and revealed it. "A Spell card." Now Heath couldn't use Action Spells. "Second check," he drew another card and smiled before showing Heath Vail Pixie. "It's a monster card." Heath gasped before looking up at Afterburner. Spectral Freezer's vents opened up before unleashing a burst of cold air that hit the dragon, freezing it in place. "But without its abilities." (A0/D0/L9) "No," he looked back at Flash. 'It's okay. I still have my Trap card. As long as he doesn't draw that card, this Duel is mine.' 'Come on,' Flash thought to himself. 'Draw it...draw it.' "Here goes, final check!" He drew his card and held it up high, allowing the camera to see it. Celestia: It's a Trap! Heath's eyes went wide in horror, as Spectral Freeze unleashed another burst of cold air that froze his face down. Luna: Incredible. Now Heath Burns can't activate any Spells, Traps or Monster effect. He can't do anything. Celestia: What an amazing skill. The crowd were all cheering loudly, the VIP boxes windows almost shattering from the Crusader's squeals. Heath, however, did not like how things were going and was completely frozen. 'I...I'm shivering. What's happening to me?' "Spectral Freezer Dragon, attack Searing Flame Dragon Afterburner!" The dragon raised its jet engine cannons and aimed them at its frozen opponent, the fans inside beginning to spin. 'I'm stronger then he is. So why...how?' "DEEP-FREEZE DESTROYER!" He looked up and saw a pair of tornadoes shoot out of the dragons cannons, heading straight for Afterburner. 'How...can I be losing?' He staggered backwards, as the attack got closer and closer. "I don't want this." Memories flashed infront of his eyes. Memories of pain and death and being so, so tired. "I...I don't want this." The tornadoes struck Afterburner, causing it to smash into a million pieces. Those pieces all flew towards Heath, who was still frozen in place. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!" They made contact, knocking him off his the dragon skull and sending him flying. Flash: 1000 (Winner) Heath: 0 Celestia: HE DID IT! Luna: Team Dominator, who had incredibly remained undefeated throughout this entire tournament, have finally seen their winning streak come to an end. "HE DID IT!" Spike yelled in joy, while the rest of the VIP box cheered for him. The Crusaders were squealing in joy while Twilight and Misty were both in tears. Cold simply smirked, happy to see that a Soulinked Duellist wasn't invincible. Celestia: Flash Sentry, from team V-Fighters, has defeated team Dominator's Heath Burns. And he's earned a huge number of points, sending his team way ahead. Flash rushed around the dragon skull and saw Heath picking himself up. Once he was on his feet, the teen suddenly flinched as he held his gloved hand. "Gah!" He cried, looking down at his hand. He quickly removed his glove, revealing the fire emblem on the back of his hand. Said emblem was smoking, as it began to grow fainter. As this happen, Heath remembered what Twilight had said during their Duel, and then what Flash had said. 'But...it's just a game for you. It's not a matter of life and death.' He fell to his knees, as Flash stepped over to him. 'Why am I so afraid?' Flash frowned as he looked down at him. "I know you're not in the Double X just to Duel. But I need to know, what was your objective in doing all of this?" Heath looked up at him, a glare burning in his eyes. "I don't know," he growled. "Tempest and Starlight just told me to Duel as many people as I could, that's all. They wouldn't tell me anything else." He began to pick himself up. "You wanna know what's going on, THEN ASK TEMPEST!" Flash just stared at him, eventually deciding he was telling the truth. "I'll do that, thank you." He walked passed Heath and began running through the boneyard, activating his Raduel and typing in her name. Seconds later, it showed she was on level three, along with two other Duellists. "Sunburst?" He saw his teammate there. So Tempest was watching her teammate Duel. "I'm coming," he rushed towards a nearby stairway. Just hold on. Team Dominator had finally lost a member, but that wasn't what was important. Now Flash had to find out what they were planning, and there was only one way to do it.